Community – it’s about…funny stuff

I was talking (read: IM’ing) with a colleague at work today and we started to throw lines out from the new NBC show, Community. If you have yet to check this little gem out, get online and get up to speed! I know everyone is hot on Glee (who isn’t?) but seriously, you couldn’t spend 30 minutes any better than watching a show dedicated to the all the fine folks who go to community colleges around the country. Ahhh, what a diverse crowd.

My favorites on the show are Abed and Troy…and Senor Chang usually gives me a nice laugh, too. I tell you, the Halloween special is going to be a CLASSIC for years and years to come. My sibs and I have fun quoting lines at each other–between Community and 30 Rock, we tend to crack ourselves up a lot. It’s a good thing NBC added Community to their line up because The Office is just not funny anymore. Allison and I lose more and more hope week after week for that show. So thank heavens for Aspergers-like Indian guys, high school football cool guys, the pretty boy, the perfectionist, the middle-aged divorcee, and more. These characters are a hoot.

For a nice seasonal tribute, here is a small clip of Abed and Troy (something they do at the end of every episode):

And to give you a little more flavor, see if you can recognize Anthony Michael Hall as The Bully in the most recent episode:

(love the Dean coming in and trying to be PC by wishing everyone “Merry Happy!”)

Love him

He makes me laugh every day. He is a snuggler. He loves SPORTS — name it, he loves it: football, baseball, soccer, basketball, tennis, hockey, golf, etc. He has become a fan of ESPN, even hums the SportsCenter theme song. He loves his friends. He is a great student. He says “I love you” to me at least 5 times a day, every day, without fail. He desperately wants a dog. He has muscles you wouldn’t believe for a 9 year old boy. He’s growing like a weed but is soooo skinny…his pants have to be cinched up like crazy. He cheers himself on when playing the Wii—and it’s very LOUD. He is one of the pickiest eaters I know. He is extremely competitive and has to be first in everything: activities, sports, lines, walking…just a tad bit aggressive. He could sleep through a tornado. He has brown hair and bright blue eyes (I always thought my kids would be blonde…but he was always a bit darker). He has the most adorable freckles all over his face. His giggle melts me. He loves to impress his uncles, his grandpas, and any guy for that matter. And he loves to take pictures of himself with my phone.

Love him. Oh so much.

Behold, the White Elephant

Allison came home tonight from a friend Christmas party with what she said was the “winning” white elephant gift of the night. It was this beauty here:

The winning White Elephant

Forgive the grainy pic, I took it with my phone in low light. But I seriously started laughing when she pulled it out of the bag. That is NICE! You should see the lovely acrylic paint job up close. And the fabric! Whooee, that fabric is of the finest pseudo satin material I have ever had the opportunity to run  my fingers across.

The story behind this pillow gets even better. One of Al’s married friends received this handsome pillow as a wedding present. Yes, that pillow was a wedding present. And apparently the giver of this fancy creation received it as a gift off of his mission. So naturally, everyone was suggesting that Al take it on her mission to Panama here in just 5 short weeks. Keep the spirit of the White Elephant going strong — which is, of course, to share gifts that nobody really wants but yet live on in gift giving lore forever and ever and on into perpetuity.

Fa la la la la la, and don’t keep it too long.

Attack of the Snuggie

What is the world coming to when the number one gift being advertised and pushed in your face all the time is a giant fleece onesie in which it could be stated “one size fits all”? Oh my gosh, I don’t know who owns the rights to the Snuggie but I have seen it EVERYWHERE. From Smiths Marketplace to Walgreens to Bed Bath & Beyond to Macys. The Snuggie has infiltrated our lives and decided that we all want white trash Christmas gifts this year.

I’m starting to wonder if it’s part of the new health care reform plan–don’t worry about colds, get a Snuggie! Forget that medication you think you need, get a Snuggie instead! Snuggie, Snuggie, Snuggie. It’s just as pervasive in its marketing…I still remain unconvinced.

I think they should come out with a catchy jingle, something akin to “I’d like to buy the world a Snuggie, to keep it smothered in heat…I’d like to see my fam-il-y, swallowed in a fleecy fleet”.

My sisters and I were laughing so hard that these fleece muumuu’s were everywhere you looked that we thought we should do our family Christmas picture this year all bedecked in multicolored Snuggies. But we wouldn’t want to admit to actually owning one.

I’m all for staying warm…I just don’t understand the appeal of making people look like this:

Whew! Now THAT is sexy. Who doesn’t love a spectacled man with a sly come-hither stare draped in rolls and folds of fleece? Be still my beating heart.

And then there’s this little lovely:

Ummmmmmmmm…yeah. The Baby Snuggie. There…are just…no…words. I didn’t know the “alien popping out of my stomach” look was something a somewhat sane person would want to sport—in broad daylight.

Ahhh, the Snuggie appeal. I’m pretty sure most people buy these things on a dare.

Working from Home 101

Ahhh, if only it were this warm to work outside!

Today marks the official start of my working from home tenure. Yes! Pajamas forever! No, just joshing you…sort of. I will need to remind myself that I need to get ready for the day just like every other sorry sucker who has to actually drive to a job. {mischievous chuckle}

I do have many things to enjoy surrounding the flexibility of being at home for the next four months.

• I will be a stay-at-home mom for the first time ever! Albeit a working stay-at-home mom (whatever…I will take it!)
• I can get to Caden’s school in 2 minutes flat instead of a 40 minute drive from my office in Riverton
• I can save money from not eating lunch out with Ryan 3 or more times a week
• I can do small things at the house in between meetings, instead of coming home exhausted and just wanting to crash on the couch
• I get almost TWO hours back a day in commute time!
• I can work on the couch, my room, a desk (hmmm, better get one) or wherever
• “Home” can really be anywhere – it won’t matter if I work remotely at a beach somewhere…as long as I’m online

Even though I am thrilled with the chance to be working from home because it gives me benefits untold, I have to admit that I am going through a bit of a struggle emotionally.

What I will miss:

• Planning all the fun activities on site to keep people engaged and enjoying their jobs
• Having my own dedicated space where everyone would stop by and say hi
• Seeing those people I worked with and how their faces would light up when I would smile and say “Howdy!’ or “Hola!” or “Buenos Dias!” or even lately some mornings “Wow! You’re still here?” (all said lovingly with a smile)
• Those weekly lunches with Ryan. Ryan has been one of my best friends – we worked together at IHC before working together at Intel (he referred me to the job at Intel) and it’s been almost 7 1/2 years of working side by side. I jokingly told him he needs to go find a great company while I’m still at Intel and bring me over there when my 4 months are up.

But I won’t miss the looks on the faces of the other building tenants who knew we were all losing our jobs and could never look you straight in the face. Or if they did, it was this sad, pathetic gaze and they would ask, “So, do you have any prospects? I’m sure it will all work out for you”. Nice sentiments, but seriously annoying and aggravating over the past 8 months.

In the end, it really did work out for me. I’m just excited to see where things go from here!

oh and p.s. new manager, could you possibly by any means available to you send me a new laptop to work from?

Other lovelies

Okay, ever since I posted what I want for Christmas for that giveaway, I’ve had time to rethink a couple of things. And not to sound too greedy, but there are a couple of other small things I would love.

First, I am enamored of this watch. I received the Fossil catalog in the mail about a month ago and this watch caught my eye. I don’t wear a watch normally, but I would wear this one! Even though I am a pretty accurate guesser when it comes to time, it would be kind of nice to actually know for sure. Something about it’s bright whiteness is so appealing to me.

I also had my first training session with Jane in almost 2 weeks thanks to the sickness I had. I’m still fighting off some of it but I was ready to get my rear in gear again. As I was jumping and lunging and running and leaping, I realized that I needed some new shoes. Due to the fact I didn’t participate in a marathon this year (just a half), I didn’t get my annual pair of running shoes. And boy, I could feel that I needed a new pair! So these would fit the bill (love Asics):

Today I walked into the Utrecht Art Store on 2100 South in Salt Lake and I just about died. I LOVE that store. I walk in and it’s like breathing fresh oxygen for the first time. I touch practically everything–run my fingers through brush bristles, tickle the surfaces of canvas stretched tight, pick up and smell wrapped clay and sticks of charcoal, lovingly caress 300 lb hot press watercolor paper. Sigh…I was in heaven for a short time. I finally had to leave because I wanted to buy practically every single thing in the store; I walked away with just a couple of small things. It ached to leave all those wonderful art supplies behind…so in that vein, I would love an unlimited gift certificate to Utrecht, please. Totally kidding.

Moving out and saying goodbye

It’s here, the last day of being in my office before we close the doors and give it over to our landlords. It’s very strange to walk around this top floor and see empty cube after cube after cube and look at names of people that I got to know over the past nearly four years. Wow. So quiet and strange…

No  more long commute for me, however. I will gladly hang on to that gas money, thank you very much. I will not miss adding ridiculous amounts of mileage to my car.

Aww, this was my space! Although I went from having a nice office to cube life when I came to Intel, it still was mine and was an adequate home…for the most part. I guess as adequate as gray cube walls can be. Hmmm, suddenly I am not missing this as much anymore…

I was lucky in that I had two cubes to use and I never had to share with a “cubie mate”. Not that I’m opposed to sharing–I just like my space. More room to spread out, baby. That little Busy Beaver button was something one of my business partners I worked with sent me after I organized an event at their site. (she also gave me a cash award, too, but I can’t flash that for you folks)

I had a few small trinkets at my desk, just enough to make it homey (there were others who had boxes and boxes of “stuff” that they brought in to make it comfortable). Those little piggies were the inspiration for my theme at my recent Farewell Dinner at Sundance for my group. The little orange-eared guy was a small token for each employee.

On my whiteboard I placed a  few quotes that I loved the first day I set foot in my office…many moons ago. The first, What you think you create, what you feel you attract, what you imagine you become, is one of my all-time favorite quotes. Because I believe it wholeheartedly. The second is one my Grandpa Taylor said once and it stuck with me: The pain of discipline is less than the pain of regret. Try arguing against that one. This has helped me through many situations, especially in training for my marathons. I knew the pain of staying disciplined in training, and not copping out on those runs when I just didn’t feel like it sometimes, was going to be so much less than that pain of regret of not participating. And it’s true. I, ahem, also had another quote just for fun – It’s not the men in my life that counts but the life in my men.

So, here I am all packed up and out the door. I took this picture yesterday morning:

But something changed yesterday afternoon…something very, very, VERY cool – I’m not leaving just YET!

Due to another person on my team deciding last minute not to move (he was going to relocate to Arizona), my new manager was scrambling with trying to decide how in the world they were going to cover his job. What was very gratifying was that immediately she thought of me, got me on the phone, and said, “We really don’t want to lose you but I know you want to stay in Utah. Would you take a 4 month extension and you can work from home?”

Are you kidding???? YES!!!! Oh my goodness, this worked out better than I could’ve imagined. On many, many levels. It may have come in almost the 11th hour, but now I am not going to be jobless come January 4. AND I have a lot of prospects that are heating up for the March/April timeframe. Seriously, life is GOOD.

So my Intel goodbye is no sad sayonara for me as yet – it’s really just a goodbye to the building for now. I am sad to not see so many good friends on a day to day basis anymore but I am tickled pink that I get to keep my job for a bit longer (and maybe even longer than that…).

Whoohoo!

p.s. As I left the RV1 (that’s Riverton 1 for you non-Intel speakers) building for the last time today, the bitter, bitter wind slapped me in the face. The other workers (who are mostly IT folks for the church) saw I was checking out for the last time and avoided looking in my direction. I think they thought I was crying because the sting of biting wind brought tears to my eyes. I just smiled, turned around as I passed them, and exclaimed, “Enjoy the building! It’s all yours now!”

p.p.s. I saw one of my first managers at Intel for the last time and he had heard of my good fortune in securing my job to work at home for a few more months. “Congratulations! I just had to tell you that until the day I go to my grave, I will forever be grateful that I got to see your evolution and development at Intel. It’s been a special, special thing and I’ve really enjoyed watching you grow. Now you’re somebody that they’re fighting to keep! (voice drops to whisper) And if they’re really smart, they’ll do just that!” Awww, that was just the icing on my tiny cake of celebration.

This morning

Kids and snow. They love it. Even when waiting for a bus that was 20 minutes late.

I need a BIG stocking

Because I would love to stuff it crazy with all of these items below! Apparently, TodaysMama and ProvoCraft are giving away an incredible package for Christmas and boy, do I hope I can be the lucky winner. I just saw the Yudu on TV this morning and it grabbed my eye because a guy I used to work with at Intel now works for ProvoCraft and he was featured on their infomercial. Plus, I really want one of these babies! It reminds me of my days up at art school at the U…printing away.

Anyway, here’s my response to their entry request.

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama and ProvoCraft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

• What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?
  • A Yudu. Seriously. No, I’m telling you, I really, really want one of these babies. Did I say that already?
  • The latest Jawbone bluetooth earpiece. Because it comes in purple. And it’s name is perfect: Lilac You Mean It.
  • A new laptop. Mine goes back to my company in just 3 short weeks…
  • A really cool job at a really awesome company that excites me beyond belief. Whoohoo!
  • A trip away for just a few days…preferably somewhere warmer than where I am right now.

• What is your favorite handmade gift you have received? Hmmm…probably anything that Caden has ever drawn/created/painted for me. Definitely my favorite handmade gifts.
• What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle? I have a grand idea of doing portraits of the people I love doing the things they love – Caden playing sports, my parents traveling, The Guy mountain biking, and so much more. I just need to break out the canvas and get painting!
• What was the BEST Christmas gift you received as a child? Still to this day, my favorite childhood gift was my huge Barbie playhouse I received when I was 8 years old. I didn’t play with Barbies all that much but I loved that house. I remember flattening as far down on my stomach as I could to peek around the corner of the stairs Christmas Eve night and once I caught a glimpse of that house, my mouth popped open wide. It was the biggest house I had ever seen–I don’t think I slept much that night at all!
• What items are on your kid’s wish list this year? Wii games, Nintendo DS games, and a puppy. Yes, yes, and no.
• What is your favorite holiday food? Anything peppermint flavored. But I especially love Honeybaked Ham at Christmas.
• What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays? Hopefully one or more of the aforementioned paintings above! (I will post pictures…if I finish one…or any)
• What is your favorite holiday movie? Ooooh, that’s a tough one. It’s a toss up between Holiday Inn and Christmas Vacation. Yes, I realize how similar in style they really are. One a classic Classic with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire…the other a classic, um, satire on going overboard for Christmas (reminds me of my dad).
• Favorite holiday song? Hands down it’s Nat King Cole’s version of The Christmas Song. That song evokes Christmas’ past, present, and future for me.
• Favorite holiday pastime? Visiting Christmas Street and Christmas Story Street in Salt Lake City.

I haven’t entered a drawing/contest/giveaway in quite some time. So I’m hoping my drought of non-entry might bring me some much needed luck in this regard. I will be one happy woman should I win! Plus, I will take you for a ride on my bike.

A 9 year old’s letter to Santa

Caden came home from school today with the typical homework that he’s worked on – math assignments, writing assignments, and letter to Santa. Oh yes, today at school the kids got a chance to email Santa at www.christmassantaclaus.com.

Caden was so excited to tell me what he wrote AND the fact that Santa had replied to his email already! Wow, gone are those days of mailing that letter  up to the North Pole; Santa is the latest techno geek. We’re talking a response in minutes, not days.

He read the letter out loud to my dad, Allison, and me as we sat around the dinner table. All I have to say is this kid cracks me up. Santa ain’t too shabby either.

Caden’s letter to Santa

Santa’s reply to Caden

Seriously, I laughed my head off at both letters. First, that my son thinks he has a halo that is just “a teensy weensy bit crooked”. Second, that Santa apparently chuckles at everything, winks at everything else, and plays a lot of reindeer games.

Too cute, too cute. I”m just so glad Caden is still “a believer”. I am!!